Will Comey make fortune on his 'secret' memos?

Nunes says much material in ex-FBI director's book has been kept from Congress

WASHINGTON – With former FBI Director James Comey’s book releasing Tuesday and a deadline to turn his memos over to Congress Monday, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes is saying that much of the content of the No. 1 “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership” appears to be based on those still-secret memos.

“It appears like there is much in the [Comey] book that comes from the memos,” Nunes, R-Calif., said on Fox News.

Nunes, along with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Virginia, and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-South Carolina, sent a letter to the Justice Department Friday seeking the memos arguing there is “no legal basis for withholding these materials from Congress.”

“Copies of any unclassified memos should be produced to all three Committees in unredacted form,” they wrote. “Copies of any memos containing classified information should be produced to all three Committees in both (1) unredacted form, in an appropriately secure setting; and (2) declassified form, with appropriate redactions.”

Nunes also said the House Intelligence Committee had some access to the memos already in limited form, but that the memos should be provided to the key congressional committees and also to the public.

Comey, who was fired by Trump in May 2017, testified before a congressional committee that he wrote memos detailing various conversations he had with Trump.

In one memo, Comey detailed how the president pressured him to end the FBI’s investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. In another, Comey recalled how Trump demanded loyalty from him.

In February, a federal judge ruled the memos must remain secret because they could negatively impact special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.